"An exquisitely beautiful book about
that uncertain border between girlhood and womanhood, between passion
and desire, a country only too familiar to all women. Fan Wu's story swept
me away."
- Sandra Cisneros, author of House on Mango Street
"Characters, plot, and Chinoiserie combine
in a debut novel that shines¡animated by unforgettable characters, and
infused with emotional honesty, Fan Wu's first novel is moving, sexy,
and impossible to put down. Her style is deceptively simple, her prose
confident, clear and precise¡a brilliant debut."
- The Bulletin (Australia)
"A fresh, original work that strikes a fine
balance between intimacy and restraint, and shatters several stereotypes
along the way¡.The author's control of her subject matter is impressive,
capturing perfectly the claustrophobia and obsessive passion that youthful
friendships can assume, without ever rendering Ming's concerns as self-absorption¡The
novel's ultimate appeal, however, lies in the universality of its themes-the
pain and pleasure of growing up, and the discovery of sex and the accompanying
wonder and fear; few will not recall their own adolescent pangs while
reading FEBRUARY FLOWERS."
- The Asian Review of Books
"An original and unforgettable story. Just
like the flowers referred to in the title, Fan Wu's novel is brimming
with passion, vitality, and hope. The girls in this book are the daughters
and granddaughters of The Good Women of China, and are products of the
society both modern, expansive, and communistically introvert."
- Xinran, author of The Good Women of China
"On its surface February Flowers is a swift coming of age tale about an
obsessive friendship between opposites at a college in Guangzhou. Ming is shy, naive, bookish and new to city life while Yan is bold, wild,
magnetic and eager to corrupt. But beneath the surface tension and attraction between
these two memorable young women is a story about contemporary China and the push and pull between tradition and modernity, communism and
capitalism, constraint and freedom. Fan Wu is a gifted writer and a promising new voice, and her characters come alive in this wonderful debut novel.
"
- Porter Shreve, author of Drives Like a Dream and The Obituary Writer
"A novel that takes us inside contemporary China by a keen-eyed Chinese writer who knows English inside out.
"
- Alan Cheuse, author of The Light Possessed and The Fires
"Fan Wu quietly and unobtrusively conveys the seismic
shifts that Chinese society has undergone in a matter
of decades...this subtle and deftly paced novel is,
ultimately, less a story about sexual awakening than
sheer awakening. ¡"
- The Observer (UK)
"a novel that turns its eye away from imagined
audiences and keeps it trained on the story at
hand...the ease with which it (the novel) shakes off
the voiceover of memoir, with all its intonations of
latterly won wisdom, and enters the past as it was
lived, in real-time and without the props of
hindsight. As compelling is the way in which the two
friends become emblematic of China as it was then...
¡"
- Financial Times Book Review(UK)
"This first novel (February Flowers) commands our
attention if we want to understand contemporary
China...Yan is perhaps...the bipolar characteristics
of contemporary China, and its unique brand of market
Stalinism, modernity and tradition.
¡"
- The Tablet (UK)
"Fresh and original¡"
- The Age (Australia)
"Gently paced¡an elegant book."
- The Sydney Morning Herald
"Fan Wu's debut novel captures the chasm between
both the old and the modern of her motherland"
- Sun Daily (Malaysia)
"A finely wrought first novel¡deeply compelling¡"
- The Bangkok Post
"Wu has created a story full of emotional
honesty that has engaging, complex characters who must negotiate challenging
and uncertain situations."
- Radio Singapore International
"A winning debut¡engrossing, beautifully written¡sophisticated
blend of lyricism, humour, sexual titillation and earnest exploration
of being and becoming¡"
- Straits Times Singapore
"First-time author Fan Wu's elegant pacing
and tidy, vivid prose captures China on the cusp of its economic boom,
with the characters caught in the social eddies that curl around it¡.However
universal coming of age stories may be, few capture a country's zeitgeist,
as Wu's work does."
- That's Beijing Magazine
"Engaging¡strong and intransigent¡"
- TaiPei Times
"Subtle and delicate¡a beautifully written,
promising debut, full of light detail and intense reflection."
- www.compulsivereader.com
"February Flowers is an impressive debut from
Wu. It offers an insight into contemporary Chinese life not often seen
in literature of Chinese origin and will leave the reader wanting more
of the same. "
- www.theblurb.com.au